Regulatory Clearance of Spent Steel Drums

At KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Institute), radioactive soil and concrete wastes with extremely low level of activity were regulatory cleared in 2008 and large amount of spent drums remained. After generation, drums having good physical integrity reused for packaging radioactive wastes and about 50 tons of drums unsuitable for reuse were stored as radioactive wastes. Having once been used for packaging regulatory cleared radioactive wastes, these spent drums were determined to be regulatory cleared. Before regulatory clearance, steel drums were radiation monitored, washed with pressurized water two times, compacted and stored at a designated area. Based on radiological dose assessment results using a recycling scenario derived from actual situation, the regulatory clearance of steel drums was permitted by the regulatory body. Treatment of the regulatory cleared drums was then committed to a scrap-metal dealer for recycling. In this study, a process of regulatory clearance for spent steel drums and a modified radiological dose assessment model for staff members of a scrap-metal dealer will be discussed.Copyright © 2011 by ASME